View source for Rainer Weiss

{{Short description|American physicist (1932–2025)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Rainer Weiss
| image             = Rainer Weiss EM1B8841 (24027015857).jpg
| caption           = Weiss in 2017
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1932|9|29}}
| birth_place       = [[Berlin]], [[Weimar Republic|Germany]]
| death_date        = {{death date and age|2025|8|25|1932|9|29}}
| death_place       = [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| education         = {{ubil|[[Massachusetts Institute of&nbsp;Technology]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]], PhD)}}
| spouse            = {{marriage|Rebecca Young|1959}}
| children          = 2
| known_for         = Pioneering laser interferometric [[gravitational wave observation]]
| awards            = {{ubil|[[Einstein Prize (APS)|Einstein Prize]] (2007)|[[Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics|Special Breakthrough Prize in&nbsp;Fundamental Physics]] (2016)|[[Gruber Prize in Cosmology]] (2016)|[[Shaw Prize]] (2016)|[[Kavli Prize]] (2016)|[[Harvey Prize]] (2016)|[[Princess of Asturias Awards|Princess of Asturias Award]] (2017)|[[Nobel Prize in Physics]] (2017)}}
| field             = [[Physics]]<br>[[Laser science|Laser physics]]<br>[[Experimental physics|Experimental gravitation]]<br>[[Cosmic microwave background|Cosmic background measurements]]
| workplaces        = {{ubil|[[Massachusetts Institute of&nbsp;Technology]]|[[Princeton University]]|[[Tufts University]]}}
| thesis_title      = {{nobr|Stark Effect and Hyperfine Structure}} of Hydrogen Fluoride
| thesis_url        = https://www.proquest.com/docview/302113994/
| thesis_year       = 1962
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Jerrold R. Zacharias]]
| doctoral_students = [[Nergis Mavalvala]]<br>[[Philip K. Chapman]]<br>[[Rana X. Adhikari]]
| notable_students  = [[Bruce Allen (physicist)|Bruce Allen]]<br>[[Sarah Veatch]]
}}

'''Rainer Weiss''' ({{IPAc-en|w|aɪ|s}} {{respell|WYSSE}}, {{IPA|de|vaɪs|lang}}; September 29, 1932 – August 25, 2025) was a German-American physicist, known for his contributions in [[gravitation|gravitational physics]] and [[astrophysics]]. He was a professor of physics at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] and an adjunct professor at [[Louisiana State University]]. He is best known for inventing the laser interferometric technique which is the basic operation of [[LIGO]]. He was Chair of the [[Cosmic Background Explorer|COBE]] Science Working Group.<ref name="Brink2014">{{cite book|author=Lars Brink|title=Nobel Lectures in Physics (2006–2010)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yRS3CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA25|date=June 2, 2014|publisher=World Scientific|isbn=978-981-4612-70-8|pages=25–}}</ref><ref name="NASA">{{cite web|title=NASA and COBE Scientists Win Top Cosmology Prize|publisher=[[NASA]]|url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2006/gruber_award.html|year=2006|access-date=February 22, 2016|archive-date=March 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180234/http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2006/gruber_award.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="ann">{{cite journal|url=http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/March03/Weiss/Weiss5.html|title=Measurements of the Cosmic Background Radiation|journal=[[Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics|Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys.]]|author=Weiss, Rainer|year=1980|volume=18|pages=489–535|doi=10.1146/annurev.aa.18.090180.002421|bibcode=1980ARA&A..18..489W|doi-access=free|archive-date=October 1, 2018|access-date=February 22, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001142359/http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/March03/Weiss/Weiss5.html|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In 2017, Weiss was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]], along with [[Kip Thorne]] and [[Barry Barish]], "for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves".<ref name="Nobel">{{cite web|title=The Nobel Prize in Physics 2017|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2017/press.html|publisher=The Nobel Foundation|date=October 3, 2017|access-date=October 3, 2017|archive-date=August 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180813222249/https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2017/press.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="BBC-20171003">{{cite news |last1=Rincon |first1=Paul |last2=Amos |first2=Jonathan |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-41476648 |title=Einstein's waves win Nobel Prize |work=[[BBC News]] |date=October 3, 2017 |access-date=October 3, 2017 |archive-date=July 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709032124/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-41476648 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="NYT-20171003">{{cite news |last=Overbye |first=Dennis |author-link=Dennis Overbye |title=2017 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to LIGO Black Hole Researchers |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/03/science/nobel-prize-physics.html |date=October 3, 2017 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=October 3, 2017 |archive-date=May 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502035410/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/03/science/nobel-prize-physics.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="NYT-20171003dk">{{cite news |last=Kaiser |first=David |author-link=David Kaiser (physicist) |title=Learning from Gravitational Waves |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/03/opinion/gravitational-waves-ligo-funding.html |date=October 3, 2017 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=October 3, 2017 |archive-date=May 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502052511/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/03/opinion/gravitational-waves-ligo-funding.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Weiss helped realize a number of challenging experimental tests of fundamental physics. He was a member of the [[Fermilab Holometer]] experiment, which uses a 40m [[Michelson Interferometer|laser interferometer]] to measure properties of space and time at quantum scale and provide Planck-precision tests of quantum [[holographic principle|holographic]] fluctuation.<ref>{{cite web|title=Why we built the Holometer|url=https://cqgplus.com/2017/10/06/why-we-built-the-holometer/|author=Emily Tapp|publisher=IOP, Classical and Quantum Gravity journal|date=October 6, 2017|access-date=October 22, 2017|archive-date=August 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220830130020/https://cqgplus.com/2017/10/06/why-we-built-the-holometer/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=The Holometer: an instrument to probe Planckian quantum geometry|author=Aaron Chou |display-authors=etal |journal=[[Classical and Quantum Gravity|Class. Quantum Grav.]]|volume=34|issue=6|pages=065005 |doi=10.1088/1361-6382/aa5e5c|arxiv=1611.08265|bibcode=2017CQGra..34f5005C|year=2017 |s2cid=119065032 }}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
Rainer Weiss was born in Berlin, [[Province of Brandenburg|Brandenburg]], [[Free State of Prussia|Prussia]], [[Weimar Republic|Germany]], on September 29, 1932, the son of Gertrude Loesner and Frederick A. Weiss.<ref name = McCain>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/science/rainer-weiss-dead.html|title = Rainer Weiss, Who Gave a Nod to Einstein and the Big Bang, Dies at 92|last = McCain|first = Dylan Loeb|date = August 26, 2025|accessdate = August 26, 2025|work = [[The New York Times]]|url-access = limited}}</ref><ref name="CV">{{Cite web|url=http://emvogil-3.mit.edu/~weiss/rw/rwbiog.pdf|title=Weiss CV at mit.edu|access-date=December 16, 2012|archive-date=December 9, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141209065850/http://emvogil-3.mit.edu/%7Eweiss/rw/rwbiog.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=MIT physicist Rainer Weiss shares Nobel Prize in physics |date=October 3, 2017 |work=MIT News |url=https://news.mit.edu/2017/mit-physicist-rainer-weiss-shares-nobel-prize-physics-1003 |archive-date=December 12, 2017 |access-date=August 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171212161039/http://news.mit.edu/2017/mit-physicist-rainer-weiss-shares-nobel-prize-physics-1003 |url-status=live }}</ref> His father, a physician, neurologist, and psychoanalyst, was forced out of Germany by [[Nazis]] because he was [[Ashkenazi Jews|Jewish]] and an active member of the [[Communist Party of Germany|Communist Party]]. His mother, an actress, was Christian.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rainer Weiss Biography|url=http://www.kavliprize.org/sites/default/files/Rainer%20Weiss%20autobiography.pdf|publisher=kavliprize.org|access-date=July 7, 2018|archive-date=October 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013133206/http://www.kavliprize.org/sites/default/files/Rainer%20Weiss%20autobiography.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> His aunt was the sociologist [[Hilda Weiss]].{{cn|date=August 2025}} His younger sister is playwright [[Sybille Pearson]].<ref name = McCain/>

The family fled first to [[Prague]], but [[German occupation of Czechoslovakia|Germany's occupation of Czechoslovakia]] after the 1938 [[Munich Agreement]] caused them to flee again; the philanthropic Stix family of [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]] helped them obtain visas to enter the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/183/1/Weiss_OHO.pdf |title=Interview with Rainer Weiss |publisher=Oral History Project, California Institute of Technology |author=Shirley K. Cohen |date=May 10, 2000 |access-date=October 22, 2017 |archive-date=November 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114160224/http://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/183/1/Weiss_OHO.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Weiss spent his youth in New York City, where he attended [[Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School|Columbia Grammar School]].<ref name = McCain/>

He studied at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]], dropping out at the beginning of his junior year<ref name="Cho2016">Cho, Adrian (August 4, 2016). "[https://www.science.org/content/article/meet-college-dropout-who-invented-gravitational-wave-detector Meet the College Dropout who Invented the Gravitational Wave Detector] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220315054849/https://www.science.org/content/article/meet-college-dropout-who-invented-gravitational-wave-detector |date=March 15, 2022 }}", ''Science''. Retrieved May 20, 2019.</ref> with the excuse that he had abandoned his coursework to pursue a romantic relationship with a music student from Chicago.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Goodman |first=Daniel |date=2019 |title=Find Your Path: Unconventional Lessons from 36 Leading Scientists and Engineers |url=https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262537544/find-your-path/ |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=MIT Press |pages=239–51 |language=en-US |archive-date=December 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241204064938/https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262537544/find-your-path/ |url-status=live }}</ref> While this affair was a contributing factor, Weiss's concurrent vacillation between MIT's engineering and physics tracks may also have played a significant role. [[Jerrold R. Zacharias|Jerrold Zacharias]], then an influential physicist and MIT professor, intervened, and Weiss, after working as a technician in Zacharias's lab, eventually returned to receive his [[Bachelor of Science|S.B.]] degree in 1955. He would complete his PhD in 1962, still with Zacharias as advisor/mentor.<ref name="thesis-weiss-1962">{{cite thesis |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/302113994 |title=Stark effect and hyperfine structure of hydrogen fluoride |date=1962 |publisher=[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] |type=Ph.D. |last=Weiss |first=Rainer |id={{ProQuest|302113994 }} |url-access=subscription |oclc=33374441 |archive-date=March 29, 2023 |access-date=October 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329024300/https://www.proquest.com/docview/302113994/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":0" />

==Career==
Weiss taught at [[Tufts University]] from 1960 to 1962, was a postdoctoral scholar at [[Princeton University]] from 1962 to 1964, and then joined the faculty at MIT in 1964.<ref name="CV"/>

For Weiss's initial work at MIT, he started a group studying [[cosmology]] and [[gravitation]]. Needing to develop new technology, particularly in regards to the stabilization of equipment set to measure minute fluctuations, his lab included machine and electronics shop, with a hands-on expectation of his students for fabrication and design.<ref name=":0" />

By 1966, Weiss's tenure at MIT was at risk because of the failure of his group to produce publications. On advice from [[Bernard F. Burke|Bernard Burke]], then head of the division on astrophysics in the Physics Department, Weiss recalibrated his standards for submitting articles for publication, eventually finding grounds for publication that he believed met his personal standards as scientifically worthy and publishable. He was then able to qualify for tenure and remain at MIT.<ref name=":0" />

That same year [[Joseph Weber]] claimed to have invented a way to detect gravitational waves.<ref>[https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/blueshift/index.php/2016/06/08/the-freest-of-free-falls/ The freest of free-falls | NASA Blueshift]</ref> When Weiss’s students asked him about Weber’s work, he was unable to explain it to them, as it seemed to contradict his understanding of general relativity. In 1967, to illustrate the principle of gravitational wave detection in a simpler way, Weiss devised a thought experiment involving [[time of flight]] measurements of light between free masses in space, which in principle required “impossibly precise clocks”. About a year later, as Weber’s claims remained unconfirmed, Weiss started to realize that maybe Weber was wrong. He eventually revisited his idea and replaced the clocks with laser [[interferometry]] and concluded that such an approach could realistically detect gravitational waves, at sensitivities beyond what [[Weber bar|Weber’s resonant bars]] could achieve.<ref>[https://news.mit.edu/2016/rainer-weiss-ligo-origins-0211 Q&A: Rainer Weiss on LIGO’s origins]</ref>

=== Vietnam Era cuts to science grants ===
In 1973, Weiss was forced to pivot with his work as the US military cut funding for any science that was not determined to be "directly relevant to its core mission." Weiss wrote a proposal to the NSF that described "a new way to measure gravitational waves." This was the work that would eventually lead to his 2017 Nobel Prize, though it was many years before the interferometers Weiss and his students built were sensitive enough to actually detect gravitational waves, making for numerous unpleasant doctoral thesis defenses where Weiss's graduate students were unable to present positive (in layman's terms: any) results.<ref name=":0" />

=== MIT/Caltech collaboration ===
Weiss proposed the concept of LIGO to [[Kip Thorne]] in 1972, but it took three years before Thorne was convinced it could work.<ref>[https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/ten-years-later-ligo-is-a-black-hole-hunting-machine Ten Years Later, LIGO is a Black-Hole Hunting Machine]</ref> After the study of prototypes at MIT, Caltech, Garching, and Glasgow, and Weiss's estimates what it would take to build a full scale interferometer, Caltech and MIT signed an agreement about the design and construction of LIGO in 1984, with joint leadership by [[Ronald Drever]], Weiss, and Thorne.<ref>[https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/brief-history-ligo A Brief History of LIGO]</ref>

In a 2022 interview given to [[Federal University of Pará]] in Brazil, Weiss talks about his life and career, the memories of his childhood and youth, his undergraduate and graduate studies at [[MIT]], and the future of [[gravitational waves]] astronomy.<ref>{{Cite video |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzqllWPc8tw&t=1462s&ab_channel=Interviews%2FEntrevistasUFPA |title=Interview with Rainer Weiss (2017 Physics Nobel Prize Laureate) |publisher=Federal University of Pará |year=2022}}</ref>

== Achievements ==
Weiss brought two fields of fundamental physics research from birth to maturity: characterization of the cosmic background radiation,<ref name="ann"/> and interferometric gravitational wave observation.

In 1973 he made pioneering measurements of the spectrum of the [[cosmic microwave background]] radiation, taken from a [[weather balloon]], showing that the microwave background exhibited the thermal spectrum characteristic of the remnant radiation from the [[Big Bang]].<ref name="Cho2016"/>  He later became co-founder and science advisor of the [[NASA]] [[Cosmic Background Explorer]] (COBE) satellite,<ref name="Brink2014"/> which made detailed mapping of the radiation.

Weiss also pioneered the concept of using lasers for an interferometric [[gravitational wave]] detector, suggesting that the path length required for such a detector would necessitate kilometer-scale arms. He built a prototype in the 1970s, following earlier work by [[Robert L. Forward]].<ref>Cho, Adrian (October 3, 2017). "[https://www.science.org/content/article/ripples-space-us-trio-wins-physics-nobel-discovery-gravitational-waves Ripples in space: U.S. trio wins physics Nobel for discovery of gravitational waves] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419110938/https://www.science.org/content/article/ripples-space-us-trio-wins-physics-nobel-discovery-gravitational-waves |date=April 19, 2022 }}," ''Science''. Retrieved May 20, 2019.</ref><ref>Cervantes-Cota, Jorge L., Galindo-Uribarri, Salvador, and Smoot, George F. (2016). "[https://arxiv.org/abs/1609.09400 A Brief History of Gravitational Waves]," ''Universe, 2'', no. 3, 22. Retrieved May 20, 2019.</ref> He co-founded the [[National Science Foundation|NSF]] LIGO (gravitational-wave detection) project,<ref>{{Cite news|title = Got gravitational waves? Thank NSF's approach to building big facilities|url = https://www.science.org/content/article/got-gravitational-waves-thank-nsf-s-approach-building-big-facilities|journal = Science Magazine|access-date = 2017-11-14|issn = 1095-9203|first = Jeffrey|last = Mervis|archive-date = December 7, 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221207011300/https://www.science.org/content/article/got-gravitational-waves-thank-nsf-s-approach-building-big-facilities|url-status = live}}</ref> which was based on his report "A study of a long Baseline Gravitational Wave Antenna System".<ref>Linsay, P., [[Peter Saulson|Saulson, P.]], and Weiss, R.  (1983). "[https://dcc.ligo.org/public/0028/T830001/000/NSF_bluebook_1983.pdf A Study of a Long Baseline Gravitational Wave Antenna System] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806171106/https://dcc.ligo.org/public/0028/T830001/000/NSF_bluebook_1983.pdf |date=August 6, 2020 }}, NSF. Retrieved May 20, 2019.</ref>

Both of these efforts couple challenges in instrument science with physics important to the understanding of the Universe.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.ligo.org/magazine/LIGO-magazine-issue-1.pdf#page=8|title=The Evolution of Advanced LIGO|journal=LIGO Magazine|year=2012|issue=1|author=David Shoemaker|archive-date=November 16, 2017|access-date=February 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116111338/http://ligo.org/magazine/LIGO-magazine-issue-1.pdf#page=8|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In February 2016, he was one of the four scientists of the [[LIGO Scientific Collaboration|LIGO]]/[[Virgo interferometer|Virgo]] collaboration presenting at the press conference for the announcement that the [[First observation of gravitational waves|first direct gravitational wave observation]] had been made in September 2015.<ref>{{Cite news|title = Gravitational Waves Exist: The Inside Story of How Scientists Finally Found Them|url = http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/gravitational-waves-exist-heres-how-scientists-finally-found-them|newspaper = The New Yorker|access-date = 2016-02-11|issn = 0028-792X|first = Nicola|last = Twilley|archive-date = February 11, 2016|archive-url = https://archive.today/20160211162956/http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/gravitational-waves-exist-heres-how-scientists-finally-found-them|url-status = live}}</ref><ref name="PRL-20160211">{{cite journal |author=Abbott, B.P. |title=Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger |journal=[[Phys. Rev. Lett.]] |volume=116 |issue=6 |article-number=061102 |year=2016 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102 |display-authors=etal |pmid=26918975|arxiv=1602.03837 |bibcode=2016PhRvL.116f1102A |s2cid=124959784 }}</ref><ref name="Naeye">{{cite news |last=Naeye |first=Robert |url=http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/gravitational-wave-detection-heralds-new-era-of-science-0211201644/ |title=Gravitational Wave Detection Heralds New Era of Science |work=Sky and Telescope |date=February 11, 2016 |access-date=February 11, 2016 |archive-date=February 12, 2016 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20160212021959/http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/gravitational-wave-detection-heralds-new-era-of-science-0211201644/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Nature_11Feb16">{{cite journal |title=Einstein's gravitational waves found at last |journal=Nature News |url=http://www.nature.com/news/einstein-s-gravitational-waves-found-at-last-1.19361 |date=February 11, 2016 |last1=Castelvecchi |first1=Davide |last2=Witze |first2=Alexandra |doi=10.1038/nature.2016.19361 |s2cid=182916902 |access-date=February 11, 2016 |archive-date=February 12, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160212082216/http://www.nature.com/news/einstein-s-gravitational-waves-found-at-last-1.19361 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |doi-access=free }}</ref>{{efn|Other physicists presenting were [[Gabriela González]], [[David Reitze]], [[Kip Thorne]], and [[France A. Córdova]] from the [[National Science Foundation|NSF]].}}

Kip Thorne described Weiss as "by a large margin, the most influential person this field [the study of gravitational waves] has seen."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rainer Weiss, Nobel Prize-winner who helped unlock secrets of the universe, dies at 92 - The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/31/metro/mit-nobel-prize-winner-rainer-weiss-passes-away/ |access-date=2025-09-01 |website=BostonGlobe.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

According the Nobel Prize website, Weiss received one half of the [[2017 Nobel Prizes|2017 Nobel Prize for Physics]] prize money share, while his LIGO colleagues and co-winners [[Barry Barish]] and [[Kip Thorne]] only received one quarter of it.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/|title=Nobel Prize in Physics 2017|publisher=nobelprize.org|accessdate=November 7, 2025}}</ref>

== Personal life and death ==
Classical music was a profound influence and shaping force in Weiss's life, from his early youth in an immigrant family,{{Clarify|reason=unclear relevance of immigrant family to influence of classical music|date=August 2025}} through his shared love of Beethoven's Spring Sonata, which cemented his deep personal relationship with mentor Jerrold Zacharias.<ref name=":0" />

He married and had his first child while still in graduate school, "the best time of my life." He was married to Rebecca Young from 1959 until his death, and they had two children.<ref name = McCain/>

Weiss died at a hospital in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], on August 25, 2025, at the age of 92.<ref name = McCain/>

==Honors and awards==
Weiss has been recognized by numerous awards including:
* In 2006, with [[John C. Mather]], he and the COBE team received the [[Gruber Prize in Cosmology]].<ref name="NASA"/>
* In 2007, with [[Ronald Drever]], he was awarded the APS [[Einstein Prize (APS)|Einstein Prize]] for his work.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/prizerecipient.cfm?last_nm=Weiss&first_nm=Rainer&year=2007|title=Prize Recipient|publisher=aps.org|access-date=February 12, 2016|archive-date=November 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128075215/https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/prizerecipient.cfm?last_nm=Weiss&first_nm=Rainer&year=2007|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In 2016 and 2017, for the achievement of gravitational waves detection, he received:
::*The [[Fundamental Physics Prize|Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://breakthroughprize.org/News/32|title=Breakthrough Prize – Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics Awarded For Detection of Gravitational Waves 100 Years After Albert Einstein Predicted Their Existence|date=May 2, 2016|website=breakthroughprize.org|location=San Francisco|language=en|access-date=2017-10-03|archive-date=May 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507164450/https://breakthroughprize.org/News/32|url-status=live}}</ref>
::*[[Gruber Prize in Cosmology]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://gruber.yale.edu/cosmology/press/2016-gruber-cosmology-prize-press-release|title=2016 Gruber Cosmology Prize Press Release|date=May 4, 2016|website=gruber.yale.edu|publisher=The Gruber Foundation|language=en|access-date=2017-10-03|archive-date=November 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171106030937/http://gruber.yale.edu/cosmology/press/2016-gruber-cosmology-prize-press-release|url-status=live}}</ref>
::*[[Shaw Prize]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.shawprize.org/en/shaw.php?tmp=3&twoid=102&threeid=254&fourid=476|title=Shaw Prize 2016|access-date=May 31, 2016|archive-date=March 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303094456/http://www.shawprize.org/en/shaw.php?tmp=3&twoid=102&threeid=254&fourid=476|url-status=dead}}</ref>
::*[[Kavli Prize]] in Astrophysics<ref>{{Cite press release|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/9-scientific-pioneers-receive-the-2016-kavli-prizes-300278385.html|title=9 Scientific Pioneers Receive The 2016 Kavli Prizes|first=The Kavli|last=Prize|website=www.prnewswire.com|access-date=June 23, 2021|archive-date=November 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114160127/https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/9-scientific-pioneers-receive-the-2016-kavli-prizes-300278385.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
::*The [[Harvey Prize]] together with [[Kip Thorne]] and Ronald Drever.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://harveypz.net.technion.ac.il/harvey-prize-laureates/ |title=Harvey Prize 2016 |access-date=March 9, 2017 |archive-date=June 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601112225/https://harveypz.net.technion.ac.il/harvey-prize-laureates/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
::*The ''[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]'' magazine's American Ingenuity Award in the Physical Science category, with Kip Thorne and [[Barry Barish]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Meet the Team of Scientists Who Discovered Gravitational Waves|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/wave-catchers-ligo-team-winner-smithsonian-ingenuity-awards-2016-physical-sciences-180961124/|website=Smithsonian Magazine|access-date=March 17, 2017|archive-date=March 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318083759/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/wave-catchers-ligo-team-winner-smithsonian-ingenuity-awards-2016-physical-sciences-180961124/|url-status=live}}</ref>
::*The Willis E. Lamb Award for Laser Science and Quantum Optics, 2017.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Willis E. Lamb Award for Laser Science and Quantum Optics|url=http://lambaward.org/|access-date=March 17, 2017|archive-date=May 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190519181450/http://www.lambaward.org/|url-status=live}}</ref>
::* [[Princess of Asturias Award]] (2017) (jointly with Kip Thorne and Barry Barish).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fpa.es/en/error404.do|title=The Princess of Asturias Foundation|website=www.fpa.es|access-date=June 23, 2021|archive-date=May 31, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100531174332/http://www.fpa.es/en/press/news/alain-touraine-and-zygmunt-bauman-prince-of-asturias-award-for-communication-and-humanities|url-status=live}}</ref>
::* The [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] (2017) (jointly with Kip Thorne and Barry Barish)<ref name="Nobel"/>
::*Fellowship of the [[Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.dnva.no/c40134/artikkel/vis.html?tid=40149|title=Group 2: Astronomy, Physics and Geophysics|publisher=[[Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters]]|access-date=December 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222162631/http://english.dnva.no/c40134/artikkel/vis.html?tid=40149|archive-date=December 22, 2017|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
* In 2018, he was awarded the [[American Astronomical Society]]'s [[Joseph Weber Award for Astronomical Instrumentation]] "for his invention of the interferometric gravitational-wave detector, which led to the first detection of long-predicted gravitational waves."<ref>{{cite web |title=Joseph Weber Award for Astronomical Instrumentation |url=https://aas.org/grants-and-prizes/joseph-weber-award-astronomical-instrumentation |publisher=American Astronomical Society |access-date=May 11, 2018 |archive-date=February 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210014146/https://aas.org/grants-and-prizes/joseph-weber-award-astronomical-instrumentation |url-status=live }}</ref>
* In 2020 he was elected a Legacy Fellow of the [[American Astronomical Society]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://aas.org/grants-and-prizes/aas-fellows|title=AAS Fellows|publisher=AAS|access-date=1 October 2020|archive-date=February 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228165044/https://aas.org/grants-and-prizes/aas-fellows|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Selected publications ==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite journal
|title=Magnetic Moments and Hyperfine Structures Anomalies of Cs<sub>133</sub>, Cs<sub>135</sub> and Cs<sub>137</sub>
|first1=R. |last1=Weiss|first2=H.H. |last2=Stroke|first3=V. |last3=Jaccarino |first4=D.S. |last4=Edmonds
|journal=Phys. Rev.
|volume=105
|pages=590–603
|year=1957
|doi=10.1103/PhysRev.105.590
|issue=2
|bibcode = 1957PhRv..105..590S }}
* {{cite journal
|title=Molecular Beam Electron Bombardment Detector
|author=R. Weiss
|journal=Rev. Sci. Instrum.
|volume=32
|pages=397–401
|year=1961
|doi=10.1063/1.1717386
|issue=4
|bibcode = 1961RScI...32..397W }}
* {{cite journal
|title=A Search for a Frequency Shift of 14.4 keV Photons on Traversing Radiation Fields
|author1=R. Weiss  |author2=L. Grodzins
 |name-list-style=amp |journal=Physics Letters
|volume=1
|pages=342
|year=1962
|doi=10.1016/0031-9163(62)90420-1
|issue=8
|bibcode = 1962PhL.....1..342W }}
* {{cite journal
|last=Weiss
|first=Rainer
|title=Stark Effect and Hyperfine Structure of Hydrogen Fluoride
|journal=Phys. Rev.
|volume=131
|pages=659–665
|year=1963
|doi=10.1103/PhysRev.131.659
|issue=2
|bibcode = 1963PhRv..131..659W }}
* {{cite journal
|title=A Gravimeter to Monitor the <sub>O</sub>S<sub>O</sub> Dilational Model of the Earth
|author1=R. Weiss  |author2=B. Block
 |name-list-style=amp |journal=J. Geophys. Res.
|volume=70
|pages=5615
|doi=10.1029/JZ070i022p05615
|year=1965
|bibcode=1965JGR....70.5615W
|issue=22}}
* {{cite journal
|title=Experimental Test of the Freundlich Red-Shift Hypothesis
|author1=R. Weiss  |author2=G. Blum
 |name-list-style=amp |journal=Phys. Rev.
|volume=155
|pages=1412
|year=1967
|doi=10.1103/PhysRev.155.1412
|issue=5
|bibcode = 1967PhRv..155.1412B }}
* {{cite journal
|title=Electric and Magnetic Field Probes
|author=R. Weiss
|journal=Am. J. Phys.
|volume=35
|pages=1047–1048
|year=1967
|doi=10.1119/1.1973723
|issue=11
|bibcode = 1967AmJPh..35.1047W }}
* {{cite journal
|title=Laser-Induced Fluorescence in a Molecular Beam of Iodine
|author= R.Weiss and S. Ezekiel
|journal=Phys. Rev. Lett.
|volume=20
|pages=91–93
|year=1968
|doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.20.91
|bibcode=1968PhRvL..20...91E
|issue=3}}
* {{cite journal
|title=A Measurement of the Isotropic Background Radiation in the Far Infrared
|journal=Phys. Rev. Lett.
|volume=24
|pages=742
|year=1970
|author1=R. Weiss  |author2=D. Muehlner
 |name-list-style=amp |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.24.742
|bibcode=1970PhRvL..24..742M
|issue=13}}
* {{cite journal
|title=Electromagnetically Coupled Broadband Gravitational Antenna
|url=https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/56271/RLE_QPR_105_V.pdf?sequence=1#page=38
|journal=Quarterly Progress Report, Research Laboratory of Electronics, MIT
|volume=105
|pages=54
|year=1972
|author=R. Weiss
|archive-date=March 8, 2016
|access-date=March 6, 2016
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308095018/https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/56271/RLE_QPR_105_V.pdf?sequence=1#page=38
|url-status=live
}}
* {{cite journal
|title=Balloon Measurements of the Far Infrared Background Radiation
|author1=R. Weiss  |author2=D. Muehlner
 |name-list-style=amp |journal=Phys. Rev. D
|volume=7
|pages=326
|year=1973
|doi=10.1103/PhysRevD.7.326
|issue=2|bibcode = 1973PhRvD...7..326M }}
* {{cite journal
|title=Further Measurements of the Submillimeter Background at Balloon Altitude
|author1=R. Weiss  |author2=D. Muehlner
 |name-list-style=amp |journal=Phys. Rev. Lett.
|volume=30
|pages=757
|year=1973
|doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.30.757
|bibcode=1973PhRvL..30..757M
|issue=16}}
* {{cite journal
|title=Measurements of the Phase Fluctuations on a He-Ne Zeeman Laser
|author1=R. Weiss  |author2=D.K. Owens
 |name-list-style=amp |journal=Rev. Sci. Instrum.
|volume=45
|pages=1060
|year=1974
|doi=10.1063/1.1686809
|issue=9|bibcode=1974RScI...45.1060O}}
* {{cite journal
| title=A Large Beam Sky Survey at Millimeter and Submillimeter Wavelengths Made from Balloon Altitudes
|author1=R. Weiss, D.K. Owens  |author2=D. Muehlner
 |name-list-style=amp |journal=Astrophysical Journal
|volume=231
|pages=702
|year=1979
|doi=10.1086/157235
|bibcode=1979ApJ...231..702O|doi-access=free
}}
* {{cite journal
|title=Monolithic Silicon Bolometers
|first1=R. |last1=Weiss|first2=P.M. |last2=Downey|first3=F.J. |last3=Bachner|first4=J.P. |last4=Donnelly|first5=W.T. |last5=Lindley|first6=R.W. |last6=Mountain|first7=D.J. |last7=Silversmith
|journal=Journal of Infrared and Millimeter Waves
|volume=1
|year=1980|issue= 6
|pages= 910
|doi= 10.1364/ao.23.000910
|pmid= 18204660
}}
* {{cite journal
|title=Measurements of the Cosmic Background Radiation
|journal=Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics
|volume=18
|pages=489–535
|author=R. Weiss
|year=1980
|doi=10.1146/annurev.aa.18.090180.002421
|bibcode=1980ARA&A..18..489W|doi-access=free
}}
* {{cite journal
|title=The COBE Project
|author=R. Weiss
|journal=Physica Scripta
|volume=21
|pages=670
|year=1980
|doi=10.1088/0031-8949/21/5/016
|issue=5
|bibcode = 1980PhyS...21..670W |s2cid=250836076
}}
* {{cite journal
|title=A Search for the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect at Millimeter Wavelengths
|author1=R. Weiss, S.S. Meyer  |author2=A.D. Jeffries
 |name-list-style=amp |journal=Astrophys. J. Lett.
|volume=271
|pages=L1
|year=1983
|doi=10.1086/184080
|bibcode=1983ApJ...271L...1M|doi-access=free
}}
* {{cite journal
|title=Measurements of the Anisotropy of the Cosmic Background Radiation and Diffuse Galactic Emission at Millimeter and Submillimeter Wavelengths
|first1=R. |last1=Weiss|first2=M. |last2=Halpern|first3=R. |last3=Benford|first4=S. |last4=Meyer|first5=D. |last5=Muehlner
|journal=Astrophys. J.
|volume=332
|pages=596
|year=1988
|doi=10.1086/166679
|bibcode=1988ApJ...332..596H|doi-access=free}}
* {{cite journal
|title=A Preliminary Measurement of the Cosmic Microwave Background Spectrum by the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) Satellite
| last1=Mather | first1=J. C. | last2=Cheng | first2=E. S. | last3=Eplee | first3=R. E. (Jr.) | last4=Isaacman | first4=R. B. | last5=Meyer | first5=S. S. | last6=Shafer | first6=R. A. | last7=Weiss | first7=R. | last8=Wright | first8=E. L. | last9=Bennett | first9=C. L. | last10=Boggess | first10=N. W. | last11=Dwek | first11=E. | last12=Gulkis | first12=S. | last13=Hauser | first13=M. G. | last14=Janssen | first14=M. | last15=Kelsall | first15=T. | last16=Lubin | first16=P. M. | last17=Moseley | first17=S. H. (Jr.) | last18=Murdock | first18=T. L. | last19=Silverberg | first19=R. F. | last20=Smoot | first20=G. F. | last21=Wilkinson | first21=D. T. 
|journal=Astrophys. J.
|volume=354
|pages=L37
|year=1990
|doi=10.1086/185717
|bibcode=1990ApJ...354L..37M|doi-access=free
}}
* {{cite journal
|title=COBE Differential Microwave Radiometers: Instrument Design and Implementation
 | last1=Smoot | first1=G. | last2=Bennett | first2=C. | last3=Weber | first3=R. | last4=Maruschak | first4=J. | last5=Ratliff | first5=R. | last6=Janssen | first6=M. | last7=Chitwood | first7=J. | last8=Hilliard | first8=L. | last9=Lecha | first9=M. | last10=Mills | first10=R. | last11=Patschke | first11=R. | last12=Richards | first12=C. | last13=Backus | first13=C. | last14=Mather | first14=J. | last15=Hauser | first15=M. | last16=Weiss | first16=R. | last17=Wilkinson | first17=D. | last18=Gulkis | first18=S. | last19=Boggess | first19=N. | last20=Cheng | first20=E. | last21=Kelsall | first21=T. | last22=Lubin | first22=P. | last23=Meyer | first23=S. | last24=Moseley | first24=H. | last25=Murdock | first25=T. | last26=Shafer | first26=R. | last27=Silverberg | first27=R. | last28=Wright | first28=E. 
|display-authors=7
|journal=Astrophys. J.
|volume=360
|pages=685
|year=1990
|doi=10.1086/169154
|bibcode=1990ApJ...360..685S|doi-access=free
}}
* {{cite book
|author=R. Weiss
|chapter=Interferometric Gravitational Wave Detectors
|title=Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on General Relativity and Gravitation
|url=https://archive.org/details/generalrelativit00ashb
|url-access=limited
|editor1=N. Ashby
|editor2=D. Bartlett
|editor3=W. Wyss
|publisher=Cambridge University Press
|pages=[https://archive.org/details/generalrelativit00ashb/page/n349 331]
|year=1990
|isbn=9780521384285
}}
* {{cite journal
|title=Prototype Michelson Interferometer with Fabry-Perot Cavities
| last1=Shoemaker | first1=David | last2=Fritschel | first2=Peter | last3=Giaime | first3=Joseph | last4=Christensen | first4=Nelson | last5=Weiss | first5=Rainer 
|journal=Applied Optics
|volume=30
|issue=22
|pages=3133–8
|year=1991
|pmid=20706365
|doi=10.1364/AO.30.003133
|bibcode = 1991ApOpt..30.3133S }}
{{refend}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== See also ==
* [[List of Jewish Nobel laureates]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite journal|title=The storyteller|last=Cho|first=A.|journal=Science|volume=353|issue=6299|pages=532–537|date=August 5, 2016|doi=10.1126/science.353.6299.532|pmid=27493164}}
* {{cite book|last1=Mather|first1=J.|last2=Boslough|first2=J.|title=The very first light: The true inside story of the scientific journey back to the dawn of the universe|publisher=Basic Books|year=2008|isbn=978-0-465-01576-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/veryfirstlight00john}}
* {{cite book|last=Bartusiak|first=M.|title=Einstein's unfinished symphony: Listening to the sounds of space-time|url=https://archive.org/details/einsteinsunfinis00bart_0|url-access=registration|publisher=Joseph Henry Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-425-18620-6}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* {{IMDb name| 9545667}}
* [http://web.mit.edu/physics/people/faculty/weiss_rainer.html Rainer Weiss's website at MIT]
* [http://space.mit.edu/LIGO LIGO Group at the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research]
* {{MathGenealogy|id=100525}}
* [https://news.mit.edu/2016/rainer-weiss-ligo-origins-0211 Q&A: Rainer Weiss on LIGO's origins] at news.mit.edu
* Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/qTqTx1gX1wY Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200125203656/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTqTx1gX1wY Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|title=UW Frontiers of Physics Lecture: Dr. Rainer Weiss, Fall 2016, recorded October 25, U. Washington College of Arts & Sciences|website=YouTube|date=November 10, 2016|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTqTx1gX1wY}}{{cbignore}}
* {{Nobelprize}} including the Nobel Lecture 8 December 2017 ''LIGO and Gravitational Waves I''

{{relativity}}
{{Nobel Prize in Physics}}
{{2017 Nobel Prize winners}}
{{Breakthrough Prize laureates}}
{{Kavli Prize laureates}}
{{Shaw Prize laureates}}
{{Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss, Ranier}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:2025 deaths]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Physics]]
[[Category:American Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:American people of German-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:21st-century American physicists]]
[[Category:Jewish American physicists]]
[[Category:Jewish German physicists]]
[[Category:Emigrants from Nazi Germany]]
[[Category:German emigrants to Czechoslovakia]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science faculty]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters]]
[[Category:Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School alumni]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni]]
[[Category:Kavli Prize laureates in Astrophysics]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Astronomical Society]]
[[Category:Experimental physicists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society]]
[[Category:Gravitational-wave astronomers]]
[[Category:Jewish Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:German emigrants to the United States]]